Garment fastener



l I c. A. MOSGROVE w I GARMENT FASTENER Juiy 22, 1924.

Fug? Feb. 6, 1924 INVENTOR 6%4/2126 z? 44 ATTORNEYS" Patented July 22, 1924;.

iiurreo STATES i 1,502,316 #PATENT OFFICE."

CHARLES A. MOSGROVE, OF WATERTOWN, CONNECTICUT, 'ASSIGNOR TO THE AUTOYRE COMPANY, INC, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

GARMENT EASTENER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. Mos- GROVE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Watertown, in the county of Litchfield, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in fasteners or straps such as are commonly used on garments of the overall type and other similar articles of apparel. These fasteners consist of a strap of fabric, usually of the same material as is used for the garment, and a buckle ordinarily secured in place at the end of the strap by stitching and intended to engage a button secured on that portion of the garment which is to be supported. This buckle has a plurality of recesses through which loops of the strap are introduced so that by varying the length of the loops the length of the strap may be varied. Frequently these buckles are provided with prongs which engage the fabric and serve to anchor the buckle in any desired position of adjustment relative to the strap, but a buckle of this type is objectionable, inasmuch as its method of attachment to the strap by stitching is expensive and when in use the prongs by which the buckle is held in adjusted position not only tear the fabric of the strap but are liable to cause injury to the wearer.

The present invention is intended to provide a fastener or strap of an improved construction which carries a slide buckle which may be moved along the strap to different positions of adjustment and which is held in such adjusted position by frictional engagement with the strap. The slide buckle is also designed so that it may be mounted on the strap without stitching and the portions of the slide buckle with which the strap engages are so formed that the slide buckle may be quickly mounted in position on the strap. In that form of the invention which is now preferred the slide buckle is made of an endless piece of wire which is bent to form a button-receiving recess at one end and a cross bar at the other end. Intermediate the recess and the cross bar are pairs of cross bars, eachof which is formed of a pair of inwardly extending bends of Applicationpfiled February 6, 1924. Serial No. 690,918.

wire. The slide buckle thus forms a frame having two intermediate cross bars and the bends which form each cross bar are of unequal length and are spaced apart at their ends. The position of the bends in each pair is reversed so that the spaces between the ends of the bendsare not in registry but are in staggered relation. The spacing between the ends of the bends is sufiicient so that a loop of the strap may be inserted laterally between the ends and in this way the strap may be. engaged with the buckle with out the necessity of threading the end of ihe strap back and forth around the cross ars.

In the acompanying drawings I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention, and in these drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the new slide buckle,

Fig. 2 is a View in perspective'of the slide buckle showing the manner in which the strap is engaged therewith,

Fig. 3 is a view of the strap in use on a garment,

. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is aview similar to Fig. l but showing the slide buckle witha diiferent type of button-receiving recess.

WVith reference now to these drawings, it will be seen that the'new slide buckle consists of a continuous length of wire bent to appropriate form. The ends of the wire are brought into abutment at the point 5 and may be enclosed in a ferrule, as illustrated in Fig. 1, or else the ends of the wire may be united by welding or, if desired, may be held against each other simply by the spring pressure of the wire. The wire entering the ferrule extends from either side thereof in a straight line to form an end barv 6 which may be considered continuous. At either end of the end bar the wire is bent downwardly as at 7 7 and then inwardly as at 8, 8. The portions 8, 8 form the sides of a pair of loops which are of unequal length, the side 8-being of greater length-than the side 8.- At the ends of 8 and 8 the wire is bent reverselyat 9, 9 to form sides 10, 10' which lie parallel to the sides 8, 8 and with them form the upper cross bar. At the ends of the sides 10, 10' the wire is again reversely bent at 11, 11' and extends inwardly to form. sides 12, 12 which terminate at their inner ends in reverse bends 13, 13'.

The wire. extends from these latter bends outwardly to form sides 14, 14. It will be noted that the sides 12, 12 are of unequal length,the.side 12 beingthe longer and corresponding in length tothe' side 8, while the "bent downwardly at an angle of approximately 15 at 17, -17 to form a button-receiving recess 18, the sides of which are bent inwardly as at 19 to form a neckleading to aloop 20 which is intended to fit around the shank of the button. 'JThe'strap of the fastener is shown in Fig. 3 with the slide buckle mounted upon it and secured. to a button. This strap 21 consists of a piece of fabric, usually folded upon itself and stitched longitudinally so as to give the requiredstrength and the strap is intended to be threaded througlrthe recesses in the buckle in such a way that the a cross bars of the buckle will grip the strap firmly so as to prevent the buckle moving alongthe strap when the fastener is in use. It has previouslybeen explained that in the ordinary type of fastener the buckle is securedby stitching to the end of the strap. In the present fastener, howeventhe strap is held simply by friction and the slide buckle isso designed that it may be readily moved along the strap to the desired position and when once adjusted it grips the 'strap tightly and there is no likelihood of the buckle being displaced. The slide buckle also provides a convenient method of mountingthe buckle on the strap which is illustrated in Fig. 2' The end of the strap is doubledback upon itself to provide a loop 22 and this loop is then passed through the slide buckle between the end bar 6 and the upper cross bar. One side of the strap at the loop is then passedthrough the space 16 betv veen the end-s of the lower cross bar and the loop then slipped laterally over the larger member of the two which go to make upthis cross bar, The strap is then moved laterally as fa-ras possible so that its edge 23 li'es' against the inner surface of the bends 11 and 17?", "Pressure is then put on the strap sufficient to cause it to fold together .until the edge 24? may pass through the space 16.

' 'lhi's jedgeqis then moved backwardly over the bend 13 so that the two members forniingthe lower cross bar'lie'within the loop 22, asshown more clearly in 4-. It will be scanners this "view that the two portions 1 of the strap terminating in .theloop 22 which U5 encloses the lower cross bar, are led to one side of'the' upper cross-bar indicated generally at 25 and then passed through the recess 26 below the upper cross bar 6: The free end of the strap 27then lies along the main body of the strap 21 at such a distance beyond the buckle asmay be necessary to permit the desired degree of adj ustment lVith the buckle mounted in this manner on the strap the side members 8, 8, 10, 10, 12,

12 and 14;, 14 exert pressure on the portions of the strap which form the loop 22 so that when the'slide buckle 1S in use an endwise pull on the strap will not cause the buckle to move along it and thus change the adjustment.

The frictional engagement of the cross bars with the loop is brought about by spacw ingthe sides of each cross bar a substantial distance apart so that when tension is placed on the strap the manner in which the latter is threaded through the slide buckle will cause the strap to exert a substantially lateral pressure'at the points 28, 29 and 30, F 4:. This lateral pressure not only resists slippage by the fric tion" between-the strap and the parts of the cross bars but the slippage is further resisted by the friction between the two portions of the strap which form the loop. These parts of the strap are forced against each other and offer a greater resistance to slippage because of the greater friction between the two fabric surfaces than between a fabric and a metal surface. The spacing of the bends of the wire which form the cross bars is such that the loop of the strap -may bereadil'y slipped between the ends of those portions for mounting the slide buckle on the strap, but at thesame timeby staggering these spaces or placing them in offset, relation there is no tendency for the strap to bunch up and slip through the cross bars. a I I In mounting the slide buckle on the strap the loop 22 willbe formed at any convenient location in the strapso as to give the strap and loop the combined length desired. If it becomes necessary to alter this length the portion of the strap beyond the cross bar 6 is moved through the buckle so as to be disengaged from the buckle at the points 28 and 29. The loop, 22 may then be moved downwardly to a slight extent in the recess 18 and therend of the strap 27 pulled through the buckle so as to place the loop 22 at the de- 7 sired point. WVith the end 27 held in the new location the slide buckle is pulled in the direction of the length ofthestrap so. as to cause theidiiferent portions of the loop 22 to engage the cross bars. The slide buckle is then firmly anchored in place and cannot accidentallyslip along the strap when in use.

The fasteners consisting of the strap'and slide buckle are used in the ordinary manner, one end of the strap being secured to the garmentv at the desired location, while held in place.

10 of stitching any portion of the strap about a cross bar of the slide buckle but it is not necessary to make use of prongs or similar devices which enter the fabric of the strap in order that the slide buckle may be securely Furthermore, the length of the strap may be adjusted as desired with great ease and when once adjustment is made, the slide is held securely to the strap.

In Fig. 5 there is shown a view of a slide buckle in which the principles of this invention are utilized but which has a different form of button-receiving recess from that previously illustrated. In the buckle illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the button-receiving recess 18 consists of a loop 20,

the sides of which are bent inwardly as at 19 to form a constricted opening. In the slide buckle illustrated in Fig. 5 at the ends of the sides 14 and 14: the wire is reversely bent as at 32, 32, the portions 33 and 33 ex-- tending inwardly to approximately the median line of the buckle. The wire is then reversely bent as at 34, 34 and extends downwardly along a curve as at 35, 35, forming 35 an enlarged opening 36 through which the button may be inserted. The ends of the curved portions form a neck 37 and at either side of this neck the wire is lw utwardly as at 38, 38, the portion 38 being then bent 40 reversely and extending across the end of the buckle, having a bend 39 in which the shank of the button may lie. At the point opposite the end of the portion 38 the other end of the wire is provided with a loop 40,

encircling the part 38, the latter terminating in an enlarged head, 41, beyond this loop. With this arrangement it will be seen that the button-receiving recess is flexible and adapted to receive buttons having shanks of different diameters, since the portion 38 may be moved outwardly through the loop 4C0 thus increasing the width of the constricted neck 37. Various other types of button-receiving recesses may also be used in connection with the main body of the slide, and the type selected will depend, to some extent, on the quality of the garment with which the new slide is to be used.

The new slide buckle may be cheaply made by reason of the fact that automatic machinery may be used altogether in its production. Since the slide buckle has no prongs or projecting portions the garment on which it is to be used may easily be when in use it grasps the strap tightly. Furthermore, it has a considerable degree of resilience and this prevents injury both to the strap and the buckle when in use and also assists in V preventing slippage.

I claim:

1. A garment fastener or strap comprising the combination of a slide buckle hav-' ing a button-receiving loop, a cross bar formed of opposed members of unequal length with a space between their ends, a second cross bar above the first and similarly formed but having its members oppositely located, and a continuous bar beyond the second cross bar, and a strap terminating in an open loop enclosing the first cross bar, with its ends led to one side of the second cross bar and to the other side of the continuous bar.

2. A garment fastener or strap comprising the combination of a slide buckle having a button-receiving loop, a cross bar formed of opposed loops of unequal length with a space between their ends, the sides of theloops being spaced apart a substantial distance, a second cross bar above the first and similarly formed but having its loops oppositely located, and a continuous bar beyond the second cross bar, and a strap terminating in an open loop enclosing the first cross bar, with its ends led to one side of the second cross bar and to the other side of the continuous bar.

3. Agarment fastener or strap comprising the combination of a slide buckle consisting ofa single piece of wire bent to form a button-receiving loop, the ends of the loo-p being inwardly and then outwardly bent to form a cross bar consisting of two oppositely disposed loops of unequal length with a space between their ends, the wire beyond the cross bar being again bent inwardly and then outwardly to form a second cross bar similar to the first but having.

tegmll with the loops and lying between them, each cross bar in turn. Comprising a pair of opposed loops oi unequal length having their proximate ends in spaced relation, the sides of the loops being spaced apart a substantialdistanee and the positions of the loops in'the tWo cross bars being in reversed relation, and astrap terminating i'n-an open loop passed through the strap loop, to one side of one cross bar and around 10 the other to enclose the latter.

In testimony whereofI afiix my signature. r 7

CHARLES A. MOSGROVE. 

